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by Ami Samuels

I would like to share an excerpt from my book The Christmas Basket.

At this juncture in the story we find that the main character, Maralee Jones, is out on a wintery evening, delivering a Christmas basket to the Wagner family.

The making and delivering of the Christmas Baskets has been a long-standing tradition in the Jones family, but this year everyone is too busy to participate. Maralee finds herself all alone, not wanting to let the tradition die.

As we pick up in the story, she has had a mishap that snowy night.

“As Maralee runs her finger over the ribbon on the basket that she had hurriedly tied into a bow, she thinks about the person she used to be.
She was patient and kind to strangers.
She was a woman who would give money to the bell ringers, and not question where the money would go;
someone who saw needs in others and tried to meet them if she could.
Where did that woman go?
As she sits in the car looking at the basket she didn’t want to get,
didn’t want to assemble,
and didn’t want to deliver,
she begins to remember what she calls her first Christmas, the Christmas after her baptism.
That Christmas, she was so full of the Holy Spirit and so grateful for Jesus’ birth and what he had done for her on the cross that her heart was so full of joy, peace, and love that no present under the tree could compare!”

She got it! Maralee understood the true meaning of Christmas for the first time in her life. It isn’t about presents at all, but the love they represent. She felt whole, complete, and content. She didn’t need material things to fill that empty space anymore because it was filled with Jesus’ love.

Can you relate to Maralee? Have you ever caught yourself rushing through the holiday season lacking peace and contentment?

This year, spend time with Jesus, and slow down enough to enjoy Christmas with your family and friends. Take a few moments each day to appreciate the lights, the music and scents of the season.

Merry Christmas!

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